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Michael J. Byrne to receive Honorary Doctor of Letters from ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø at May 5 commencement

April 27, 2012
ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø Marketing and Communications

ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø will award an honorary Doctor of Letters to Michael J. Byrne, past president of the ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø Foundation Board of Directors and current chair of the Board, at ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø Commencement May 5.

Michael ByrneByrne grew up in Rigby and earned both his accounting and MBA degrees at ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø. Mike and his family have a long and storied legacy with ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø as two of his three brothers and his only sister all graduated from ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø.

He is retired as a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was a lead accountant over multinational corporations such as Nike, Inc., Chevron, Phelps Dodge, Avery Dennison, Edison International and many others. While serving PricewaterhouseCoopers he worked in locations such as Portland, Ore., Phoenix, Los Angeles, Orange County, Calif., San Diego and Salt Lake City. He currently resides in Rigby and Puerto Penasco, Mexico.

Byrne stays active in professional organizations and enjoys sports, opera, service to the Catholic Church, and volunteer efforts for ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø. Faculty, staff and students at ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø have appreciated Byrne's continuing interest in his alma mater. He has generously funded scholarships at ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø and makes significant gifts to the L. E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center.

He received the 1990 College of Business Professional Achievement Award and was honored with the first President's Medallion in 2001. In 2007 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

"ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø and Southeast Idaho will always be my home, no matter where in the world I live," he says.

Byrne has honored his parents with the Clarence and Velma Byrne Scholarship Endowment for accounting students; he was one of the catalysts for the Colonel David V. S. Kirkpatrick Scholarship Endowment, and the "Thanks a Million Babe" campaign. He generously supports the L. E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center, ºÚ°µ±¬ÁÏÍø Women's Volleyball, Jack and Deltha Dunker Scholarship Endowment, Joe and Pauline Kent Scholarship Endowment, has endowed scholarships to honor professors Ken Smith and Sheel Pawar and provides generous support to the Alumni Center Endowment.

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